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Reducing output for home practise


Jo.gwillim
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I like practising at home with the same amp I'm going to gig with, one day! The trouble has always been everything is too loud, even if I crack open the master volume just a fraction. So I made up a short jack lead with a 56k resistor between the tips and plug it in between fx send and return. Yes I know the attention depends on input and output impedances but works fine on darkglass gk and ashdown amps. 

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Using a resistor like that depends entirely on the input and output impedance of the effects circuit. Generally, a more predictable result comes from a true series/shunt pad where the variables are defined almost entirely by the external circuitry rather than varying based on what is inside the amp.

 

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1 hour ago, Bill Fitzmaurice said:

Turn down the volume on the bass.

If its a passive bass with a conventional Volume and Tone controls, turing down the bass volume will also affect the tone.

 

48 minutes ago, agedhorse said:

Using a resistor like that depends entirely on the input and output impedance of the effects circuit. Generally, a more predictable result comes from a true series/shunt pad where the variables are defined almost entirely by the external circuitry rather than varying based on what is inside the amp.

 

Would you suggest a Pi or Tee attenuator?

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I don't see the high frequency loss caused by turning the volume down as an issue for practice, but if that's the case you can deal with that by using a bypass capacitor on the pot. Guitar players have been doing this since the 70s.

https://octavedoctor.com/treble-bleed-circuit-what-is-it-and-do-i-need-it/

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3 hours ago, Chienmortbb said:

If its a passive bass with a conventional Volume and Tone controls, turing down the bass volume will also affect the tone.

 

Would you suggest a Pi or Tee attenuator?

Neither, those topologies are used for impedance matched networks. All you need is a simple voltage divider.

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58 minutes ago, agedhorse said:

Neither, those topologies are used for impedance matched networks. All you need is a simple voltage divider.

I quite agree, a voltage divider is the right thing to do, but I just happened across a 56k  resistor and thought I'd give it a try and it worked well for me, only took 5 mins to make and it's easier fitting one resistor in a jack plug rather than 2. I'm not trying to convert anyone, just thought I'd pass it on in case it strikes a chord with anyone. 

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4 hours ago, Chienmortbb said:

If its a passive bass with a conventional Volume and Tone controls, turing down the bass volume will also affect the tone.

A lot of active basses still have passive pickups & the volume pot will affect the timbre in the same way as a fully passive bass.

Some will use an active volume & blend, but they're in the minority.

 

Edited by Killed_by_Death
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That depends on where the pot is in the signal chain. If it's between the pickups and the pre-amp then they will load the signal. The only reason to do that is to have separate volume controls on multiple pickups without having to use a pre-amp for each pickup. My EMGs have the pre-amps contained within the pickups, so the pots are post gain stage and don't affect the tone.

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7 hours ago, Killed_by_Death said:

 

I was commenting to passive pickups to a pre-amp, generally the volume pot is between the pickups & the preamp.

 

This is my point I have two active basses and two passive basses and while the active bass's tone's barely change with volume*, the two passive basses lose top end when the volume is rolled back. Now you could argue that passive basses are an anachronism and I would subscribe to that intellectually, but we are where we are. perhaps as BM says, we can fit the bypass capacitor but for some that means an unwanted trip to the guitar tech or "ruining" a classic instrument. So the attenuation in the effects loop is IMHO the best option.

* any change is likley due to the amp/speaker combination rather than the onboard preamp.

Edited by Chienmortbb
added section for clarity.
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22 minutes ago, chris_b said:

For lockdown home playing I’m using my most powerful amp (800 watt Thunderfunk) through a BF One10 and my passive PJ5. This is the best low volume combination I’ve got. Sounds very good at no volume at all.

I have to say I do something similar

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12 hours ago, Jo.gwillim said:

I quite agree, a voltage divider is the right thing to do, but I just happened across a 56k  resistor and thought I'd give it a try and it worked well for me, only took 5 mins to make and it's easier fitting one resistor in a jack plug rather than 2. I'm not trying to convert anyone, just thought I'd pass it on in case it strikes a chord with anyone. 

A quick fix that works for you with the materials you had to hand ?

👍

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40 minutes ago, agedhorse said:

A 56k resistor is series will work ok with some amps and not with other amps depending on the topology of the loop. I was just pointing g out a more correct solution for those who care about such things.

Quite agree,  it worked on the 4 different makes of amp I tried. 

Tc electronic

Gk

Ashdown

Darkglass

I guess the send output impedance is always going to be quite low. So not a problem but it'll fall down with a hiZ on the return. 

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I practice at home with either an 800W Markbass head or a 900W Darkglass head into a Barefaced Super Twin.

I have no difficulty getting the volume set so low that the natural acoustic sounds of the bass are louder than the amp.

I really don't understand why you are having trouble. What am I missing?

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